Superman Returns

I can tell you what I like about Richard Donner's original Superman movie in two words: Christopher Reeve. That's pretty much it. I like it when Reeve's onscreen, doing pretty much anything, except flying with Lois Lane while some crappy voice over recites a poem. The rest of the movie ranges from passable to painful. I didn't really like the way Lex Luthor was written (Gene Hackman did an excellent job, but I hated the character). The plot was ok but not great. And I didn't like how Supes got saved by Lex's henchwoman who suddenly had an attack of conscience.

However, if you read a lot of fanboy stuff (and I have), you will discover that I am in the minority in not liking Donner's Superman. Take Bryan Singer: he likes it. He likes it so much, he decided to make it. Not remake it, mind you, because this isn't a remake. No, as the saying goes, good writers borrow, great writers steal. Singer stole a lot of the plot of this movie from Donner's original. And from what I said before, you'd probably think that's a bad thing.

But you'd be wrong. Boy, how you'd be wrong. Because Singer kept what was good: the sense of heroism, the tension between Clark Kent and Superman, and the music. He got rid of the cheesy voice overs, and substituted real emotion and chemistry between Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth. He tweaked Lex just enough to keep the sense of humor, style and showmanship, and gave him a dangerous edge that makes him much more of a threat. Singer keeps the henchwoman with a conscience, but doesn't give Supes such an easy out at the end. Basically the only thing that's not as good is Clark Kent, because Chritopher Reeve is dead. But Routh does an excellent job-I'm not complaining at all about his performance, because I thought he did a great job. But Reeve was just a little better as Clark. It was just a little more effortless, a little more real. But you don't notice. Because you're too busy looking at everything else.

And that of course, is Singer adds that Donner never could: ass-kicking action supported by massive special effects. The shuttle sequence is brilliant, the final sequence is wrenching, and Superman hasn't looked this good while flying since season 4 of Smallville. Once everything gets going, there's plenty of eye candy to go around.

The movie ultimately suceeds because Singer knows it's about more than Superman beating up on bad guys. It's about someone who embodies the best aspects of humanity, and has the power to do something about all the terrible things that happen in the world. All of them, all at once. Because he's Superman.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's the 4th of July weekend, and that means I'm heading out to Washington to play in my favorite frisbee tournament, Potlatch. For those of you who don't know, Potlatch is the largest co-ed ultimate tournament in the world, and it usually takes place over three days (when the 4th creates a true 3 day weekend, anyway). My college midcore team, Professor Booty, has been going to Potlatch for the last 3 years, and it's been fantastic every time.

And of course, I can't go out to Seattle and not stop by the fine city of Tacoma to visit my good friend, Mr. Hanberg, now can I? Every year I've gone to Potlatch, I've followed it up with a visit to Erik's hometown. It's a great trip, and I leave tomorrow night. So posts may be spotty for the next week. But I will post my Superman review before flying out.

Man in Black

Unless Jessica Alba walks into your house and starts doing a strip tease on your table in the middle of dinner, this is going to be the most beautiful thing you see today. If your computer can handle it, you have to go with the HD version. Who can't wait for next May? Watch this, and you won't be able to either.

Back to the Future

It's been all over the place, but I first saw it here on AICN. Since many of the best shows seem to get cancelled because brain-dead plebeians would rather watch Deal or No Deal, it's only fair that they get revived when half a billion people buy the DVDs. Futurama, which was the best cartoon on tv during its 4-5 seasons and one of the best comedies overall, has found new life on Comedy Central. Thirteen new episodes have been ordered and should premiere in 2008, just in time to swing the next presidental election in favor of Al Gore (Gore guest starred twice on the show and listed it as his favorite show when he was running for president). This is some of the most fantastic tv-news I've heard in a while. Now somebody just needs to get smart and put Firefly back on the air.

You wouldn't believe...

...What it takes to add a damn picture to your profile on this site. Well, I know Hanberg would, since he recently added a profile photo of himself. What I'm trying to say is, the only reason I'm posting this kick ass shot of me is so I can use it as my profile picture. That way you can look at my lovely mug every time you come to this site.

Being Sick Sucks

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I've been feeling crappy and certain obligations have not allowed me to get the rest I need to put these microorganisms out of their misery. But I slept like 12 hours last night and I've been downing water like there's no tomorrow, so hopefully I will emerge victorious soon.

The Big News

I've been waiting to post this for over a week now, but I finally got the go-ahead from Mr. Bartley on Friday. Then my internet connection promptly went down for most of yesterday. Oh well. It's working now, so here we go:

Caleb Bartley is engaged.

The unluckily victim is his former girlfriend (now fiancee) Jodi, who he's been seeing for about 6 months now. They're moving to Dallas together sometime in July (probably), and Caleb has been talking about a engagement of 1-2 years.

Interesting Fact: when he proposed, he got down on one knee. Unfortunately, the knee he got down on didn't hit the floor, but instead came to rest on a dog's chewing bone. Ouch.

This is what I was being cagey about in my earlier post, and I would have posted the happy news sooner, but Caleb asked me to wait until he had personally told a few more people before it entered the public domain.

So, a massive congratulations to Mr. Caleb Bartley and Jodi (and I can't remember her last name right now-sorry Jodi!). And Caleb, get ready for a massive bachelor party.

Break out your brooms

With apologies to my friends in the Red Sox Nation, I'm exalting in the fact that the
Twins swept the BoSox yesterday. Mostly because we need the wins more than Boston, who's only a game behind the Yankees at this point. They can go get wins against someone else. The Twinkies, on the other hand, need to get wins against just about everybody right now. Let's hope they can actually win on the road this weekend against Pittsburgh.

As a side note, Ortiz and Francona were pissed when Ortiz's massive fly ball that would have shot into the upper deck hit a speaker and became the longest single ever. I understand they're pissed because they missed out on a homerun, but Francona compared the Dome to a mini-golf course with obstacles and said "the outcome of the game should never, never hinge on a speaker. That's stupid."

Well Terry, if Ramirez hadn't stuck out (twice) with the game on the line, you would have won. Also, you play in a park with a massive green wall that stops fly balls that would be home runs in other parks. Why are you so pissed off about the design of a stadium giving you trouble? And David, if you had actually hustled around the bases you could have easily gotten to 2nd on that hit, and then you would've had a chance to score instead of getting doubled off like some Galapagosian Tortoise on the next play.

Sittin' on a porch

I had an excellent evening last night with my good friend, Mr. Caleb Bartley, hanging out on my parent's porch, smoking cigars and drinking a wide range of scotch. Ahh, the good life. Props to Caleb for supplying the scotch and the impetus. We drank Highland Park, Glenkinchie, Caol Illa, Laphroaig and Bowmore. Appearently living in the UK for awhile has its advantages. Of course, coming back to the cities can present advantages of a different sort.


What? No, I'm not being cagey. You're imagining things.

Did Kerry Win?

This is the current cover story on Rollingstone.com. It's by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., it makes strong and incendiary accusations, and it's long. It's also a bit dry, because he examines, close up, the minutiae of how the 2004 presidential election played out in Ohio. He talks briefly about problems in other places, but his focus is Ohio, because that was the key state that won the election for Bush.

The thesis of the article is basically that there were massive, organized efforts by state GOP officials, as well as by people in the employ of the RNC, to swing the state to Bush by any means necessary. It's goal is not so much as to say that Bush was again elected illegally, but instead to shed light on the despicable tatics of the people involved and to provoke outcry at the fact that there has been no outcry before. The article is thoroughly researched, and includes footnotes on pretty much all of its claims. As I see it, there are four responses to reading this article:

1)Complete disbelief. The fact that the article was written by someone with the last name of Kennedy alone is enough to convince you that all the numbers and fixed, the facts are invented and the people mentioned should file lawsuits because of the lies printed about them. You also believe that Barry Bonds, bless his heart, has never used steriods and that democracy is blooming in Iraq.

2)Mild interest overwhelmed by apathy. You may think that something happened that shouldn't have, but it couldn't have affected the whole election, could it have? Anyway, the article was so damn long that it's not worth knowing, anyway. Someone else will take care of it.

3)Belief that it doesn't matter. You think that sure, the Republicans were clearly up to something sneaky, but the Democrats probably were too, you just don't hear about it because this article is clearly printed with a liberal bias. You believe there are two sides to every story and that numbers can be made to say anything. You also believe that global warming doesn't exist because there's still that one scientist with a degree from National American University that disagrees with every other scientist on the planet who actually know what they're talking about.

4)Belief that our electoral system is fucked up. Ultimately, this article and anything that happens because of it will not affect the outcome of the 2004 election. Bush will not be tossed out of office and Kerry will not be installed. It's only value, at this point, it to shed light on the events of the past so that we can learn from them in the future. Our electoral system is in desperate need of national reform, which you think would have happened after 2000. But no. Also, whether or not the actions of the people mentioned in the articles were enough to change the course of the election or not doesn't matter: it's clear that that's what they were trying to do. And that is amazingly disturbing.

I found this article to be very convincing, not because it had a smoking gun that proved there was fraud in Ohio in 2004. It doesn't, because if it did, all these people would be in jail right now. What it does present is a strong circumstantial case, supported by exit polling data and actual voter returns (could anybody disagree with idea that it makes no sense for Kerry toget less votes than a black liberal judge who supports gay marriage in 12 rural districts?). That lack of "hard" evidence is not because there isn't any: it's because people have tried very hard to cover it up. I would like to say that I'm shocked that I haven't heard about this before. But the truth is, the lack of media coverage on stories like this has become a recurring theme since Bush took office. Just one more disturbing thing to think about. As if we didn't have enough already.